Milgram Flashcards
Background info
- Snow : more hideous crimes have been committed by obedience than by rebellion
- holocaust / nazis
- thought germans have a basic character deficit which makes them more ready to obey authority figures despite the task
- Milgram argued anyone put in situation as Nazis would do the same if said so by authority =situational
aims
- investigate level of obedience when told by an author it figure to give electric shocks
- investigate ‘germans are different’ hypothesis
germans are different hypothesis
assumption germans obeyed because of blind obedience not because of who they were
sample
- 40 men
- aged 20-50
- various occupational backgrounds
- all from New Haven America
how was sample selected
- self selected
- advert put in local paper asking volunteers to participate in study at Yale University
- paid $4.50 for participating no matter what happened after arrival
typical jobs of sample
- postal clerks
- high school teachers
- engineers
- laborers
- subjects ranged in educational level
experiment type
lab based
Method = pre procedure
- experimenter played by 31yr Old high school biology teacher
- victim played by 47 yr old accountant trained for role
experimenter characteristics
- impassive, stern manner
- wore gray technicians coat
confederate characteristics
- irish american stock
- described as mild mannered and likeable by participants
prof to study predictions
- 14 Yale psychology major seniors
- predicted only 0-3% would go to 450 V
procedure -
- participants were in a room with stooge and both drew lots assigning roles
- pps always got teacher
- they were taken to a room where stooge was strapped into a chair with electrodes attached
- participant given slight shock to show equipment worked then taken to a different room with shock generator
- learning task was explained
- if learner have wrong answer teacher gave an electric shock
- each time wrong answer was given shocks would increase by 15v
- experiment stopped when all 4 prods were given or until participant reached 450 volts
what happened in the room where stooge was getting strapped in
- experimenter explained straps were used to prevent excessive movement
- an electrode paste given to avoid blisters and burns
learning task
- subject had to read a series of word pairs to learner then read first word of pair along with 4 terms
- learner had to indicate which of the which of 4 terms had been originally paired with 1st word
- learner showed answer by pressing one of 4 switches in front of him
- if wrong answer shock given
when giving a shock to learner what would teacher announce each time
- voltage level
- to remind subjects of increasing intensity of shocks given to learner
prods when hesitation occurred
‘please continue, please go on’
‘it is absolutely essential that you continue’
‘the experiment requires you to continue’
‘you have no other choice you must go on’
how did the prods work
-if prod 1 was unsuccessful prod 2 was used
- if subject refused to obey after 4th prod experiment stopped
at 300v and 315v what did learner do
- pound wall and after this fell silent
when learner fell silent what was this classed as
wrong answer and shock was given despite learners answer no longer appearing on panel
what is a subject termed who breaks of experiment before administering 13th shock level
defiant
how was some data gathered from experiment
- recorded
- some photographs taken
- notes of unusual behaviors
- objective descriptions of behavior
after experiment
- full debrief
- reunited with learner to see no harm
- informed their behavior was normal in this situation
- psychometric measured used to see if they were okay
- questionnaires given months after as a post check up
post check up questionnaire results
- 84% they were happy to have taken part and learnt something important about themselves
- 2% were unhappy
findings
- 65% went up to 450v
- all participants went to 300v
- 5 refused after 300v
qualitative findings
- those who went to 450v showed :
- extreme stress
- trembling
- stuttered speech
- dug finger nails into palms
- nervous laughter
- 3 had full seizures of laughter (uncontrollable)
- 1 seizure so violent experiment had to stop
milgrams conclusions as to why obedience occurred for 65%
- yale uni = prestigious
- looked like a worthy purpose to understand learning
- learner was viewed as another participant so could leave
- obligation to not ruin study
- reluctance to challenge experimenter as they were alone in unusual setting
- told shocks were painful but not dangerous
- seen as fair, equal chances to be learner or teacher
milgram overall conclusion
factor for influencing behavior is the situation a person is in
advantage - lab experiments
- he could control what the participants saw, heard and experienced and could manipulate their behavior over what they were exposed to
- participants watched the leather get strapped into the chair and each time at 370v heard pounding at the wall
strengths - standardized procedure
- meant replication was possible
- 25 word pairs, prods ‘it is essential that you continue’, number of volts/max number volts (15v increase, 450 v max)
disadvantage - demand characteristics
- pps may be behaving in a way they thought was expected if then rather than their natural behavior
- experimenter prods ‘it’s essential that you continue’
- participants may have only continued as they thought it will benefit the study and don’t want to ruin it
weaknesses - experimental realism
- Orne and Holland, claim the participants had worked out what was going on but pretended to act as if they suspected nothing
- participants may have
realized it was safe to shock the learner as they knew experimenter wouldn’t ask them to give real electrical shocks - but post experiment 80% participants believed shocks were real
disadvantage - ecological validity
- participants had to complete unfamiliar shock generator task
- wouldn’t do in real life
- can’t apply to real world situations
orne and holland - ecological validity
- argued participants were bound to be obedient as they had volunteered to participate and would expect there to be safeguards in place
- can’t generalize to real life
- milgram argued experiment was a social situation with a social hierarchy like real life =valid
applications
- holocaust explained
- shows insight to power and authority
- suggests we have a natural tendency to obey authority figured even when we feel what we are being asked is morally wrong
- e.g experimenters prods made them obey
generalizability issues
- people are more likely to be extroverted as they volunteered
- 40 males no females
- aged 20-50
- ethnocentric - new haven america
deception
- experimenter lied throughout
- learned was receiving shocks for every incorrect answer
- choosing roles - drawing names to play teacher or learner
- the aims of the study
protection from harm
- participants who met 450v endured stress and discomfort
- nervous laughter
- nail biting
- trembling
- 3 had seizures of laughter
right to withdraw
- whenever hesitation to shock occured participants had 4 prods to encourage them to continue
- ‘you have no other choice you must go on’
- even though teachers could withdraw they were told they had ‘no choice’
- but we’re paid $4.50 regardless
consent
- participants did give consent but for a completely different aim of investigating the effects of punishment on learning
- retrospective consent= in a follow up survey 84% of participants we’re glad to have taken part
- after 1 year participants found no harmful effects
debrief
- participants were told what happened once experiment had finished
- were shown confederate learner to see they were completely okay
confidentiality
data kept private
conclusion : ethics
milgram experiment was unethical but some of the unethical decisions he made was for the validity and credibility of the experiment, and there was no long term suffering, 84% of participants were glad to be part of the experiment after in a questionnaire
